Several companies in Nigeria are developing local solar panel production, while the country’s government is seeking to reduce dependence on imported equipment, mainly from China. In particular, the LPV Technologies plant near Lagos, where production began last year, manufactures panels for buyers in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries, Climate Home News reports.
According to Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency, about four in ten people in the country, more than 85 million people, do not have reliable access to centralised electricity supply. Over the past two years, Nigeria’s national power grid has suffered around 22 failures due to electricity transmission constraints, gas shortages and ageing infrastructure.
Solar systems are increasingly being installed in households and businesses affected by grid disruptions. According to BloombergNEF estimates, Nigeria’s total installed solar capacity has reached about 6 GW, mainly thanks to small-scale installations. In the Agege area of Lagos, 100 LPV panels were installed on the roof of a new veterinary vaccine storage complex. Together with batteries, they are intended to provide round-the-clock power to offices, laboratories and refrigerated facilities.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told Chinese investors back in 2024 that the country intended to manufacture solar technologies and batteries for the African market. The authorities also announced renewable energy industrial park projects in Nasarawa State and a solar module assembly plant in Enugu. However, commercial production at these facilities has not yet begun.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Nigeria’s solar market remains heavily dependent on foreign equipment. Last year, the country imported about 2.9 million panels worth more than 400 billion naira, or $295 million; more than 70% of supplies came from China. This made Nigeria the second-largest African importer of Chinese panels after South Africa.
According to LPV Technologies operations manager Emmanuel Agboli, the plant produces about 180,000 panels per year, but this is insufficient to meet domestic demand. The company imports up to 17 components, including solar cells, which increases costs. China controls more than 80% of global manufacturing capacity in the solar industry, the International Energy Agency notes. The retail price of an imported 550 W panel is about 150,000 naira, or $110 — the same amount LPV charges wholesale buyers.
Industry representatives also cited instability in government policy and the exchange rate as obstacles for investors. A proposal last year to restrict solar panel imports in support of local manufacturers was withdrawn about a month after it was announced.
Read us on Telegram and Sends
Use of materials from the websites https://ua.news/ is permitted only if a reference (or, for online publications, a hyperlink) to UA.NEWS is included no later than the third paragraph.
Use of materials is permitted only upon receipt of written permission from the UA.NEWS editorial board and the mandatory placement of a direct hyperlink to the original publication https://ua.news/ in the first paragraph of the material, which must be open to indexing by search engines.
Materials marked with the “Advertisement” label are promotional and are published as advertisements. The editorial board may not share the views promoted therein. The editorial staff is not responsible for the facts and opinions published in advertising materials. In accordance with current Ukrainian legislation, the advertiser is responsible for the content of the advertisement.
Materials in the “Blogs” section represent the personal opinion of the blog author; the editorial staff may not share the author’s views.
Copyright infringement is prosecuted in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and the norms of international law.
The online media outlet UA.NEWS serves only an audience aged 21 and older. Online media entity; media identifier – R40-05225.
LLC “NEWS FLASH INFORMATION AGENCY.” All rights reserved.
